Nesting and stacking box



June 2, 1959 s. D. LAPHAM 2,889,972

NESTING AND STACKING BOX Filed March 29, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 2 c g 17I /o F a in l L [16-3 r' l 3 INVENTOR.

5/04 5) Q Zip/MM June 2, 1959 s. D. LAPHAM NESTING AND STACKING BE:

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 29, 1956 Arrow Ir;

June 2, 1959 s. D. LAPHAM 7 2,889,072

NESTING AND smcxmc: BOX

Filed March 29, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. SIDNEY D. LAPHAM BY ATTORNEYS NESTING AND STACKING BOX Sidney D. Lapham, Martinez, Calif.

Application March 29, 1956, Serial No. 574,721

7 Claims. ((11. 22097) This invention relates to and in general has forits object the provision of a square nesting and stacking lug or totebox capable of being switched from its nesting position to its stackingposition by rotating it through not more than 90 degrees. Thisapplication is a continuationin-part of my application Serial No.255,053, filed No- Vember 6, 1951, and now abandoned.

In my pending application, Serial No. 255,053, a rectangular nesting andstacking box has been shown, wherein opposed sides thereof are ofdissimilar contour, and which box can be changed from its nesting to itsstacking position only by rotating it a full 180 degrees. This conditionis decidedly inconvenient for it necessitates a twostage operation. Thebox must first be turned through substantially 90 degrees, and then thegrip thereon reversed before it can be rotated the remainder of the 180degrees.

Currently, the dimensions of lug boxes for the fruit and vegetableindustry are approximately 16 inches wide by 24 inches long, and 8 or 9inches high, these dimensions still being resorted to, although thereasons therefor no longer exist. Historically, lug boxes of this typewere handled manually and by the aid of hand trucks. Boxes of 16-inchwidth were found convenient for they could be readily readily brokenover when stacked vertically on a hand truck or on the floor. Their24-inch length, when placed transversely to the line of direction of thehand trucks and motor trucks resulted in greater stability to the boxeswhen being transported.

Presently, however, these lug boxes are handled by fork lift trucks inpalletized unit loads of two boxes by three boxes, and as so handled, anarrow box having the historical width of 16 inches is actuallydisadvantageous. Preferably, the boxes should be in stable equilibriumwhen being transported by a carrier on the road as well as when beingtoted on a fork lift truck. To most effectively tie a load of boxes to atruck or other carrier, they should be so disposed that their lengthsare transverse to the bed of the truck or carrier. Here it should benoted that the boxes are supported on 4 x 4 foot pallets (approximatedimensions) disposed on the bed of the truck. When the carrier arrivesat its destination the palletized unit loads are removed by a fork lifttruck operating from the sides thereof. This means that the boxes aresupported by the lift truck with their length parallel to the forks ofthe lift truck, in other words, parallel with the line of travel of thetruck. As a result of this, the boxes can tumble more readily laterallyfrom the fork lift truck than if they had been supported thereon withtheir lengths transverse to the line of travel. Consequently, althoughan advantage has been gained by stacking the boxes on the carrier withtheir lengths transverse to the line of travel, a correspondingdisadvantage occurs when they have been transferred to the lift truck.

Either because of custom or law, the maximum width of a truck and/or itsload for over-the-road hauls is 8 feet, and this, coupled with the factthat the truck must be unloaded from its side, dictates that the. boxesmust f atented June 2, 1959 ice be uniformly disposed on the truck withreference to the center line thereof. If a 2-foot long box is used, twopalletized unit loads may be placed side by side across the width of thetruck.

More specifically, one of the objects of this invention is the provisionof a combination of two or more identical generally square andvertically tapered boxes, each provided with dissimilarly contouredadjacent side walls or corners whereby two such boxes can be nested byplacing their similar sides or corners in vertical registration witheach other or stacked by placing their dissimilar sides in verticalregistration With each other.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a box of thecharacter above described provided with an outwardly overturned upperperipheral edge serving as a ledge or handhold for manually handling thebox or as a ledge or shoulder by which the box can be supported by theforks of a lift truck or other mechanism.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a box of thecharacter above described provided with either a recessed upperperipheral ledge or with a stepped bottom so that when two such boxesare stacked, portions thereof are slightly nested, thereby to key themagainst relative lateral movement.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of tapered boxescapable of being stacked, nested, and interlocked and which when placedside by side form intermediate inverted V-shaped channels, capable ofreceiving the fork of a lift truck.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of thecombination of a plurality of laterally interlocked and tapered lugboxes and a lift truck provided with forks arranged to be disposedbetween the outside walls of a pair of two or more laterally disposedboxes and within the wedge shaped interior openings formed by theintermediate side walls of said boxes.

The invention possesses other advantageous features, some of which, withthe foregoing, will be set forth at length in the following descriptionwhere that form of the invention which has been selected forillustration in the drawings accompanying and forming a part of thepresent specification, is outlined in full. In said drawings, one formof the invention is shown, but it is to be understood that it is notlimited to such form, since the invention as set forth in the claims maybe embodied in other forms.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a lug box embodying the objects of myinvention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of the right hand side ofthe box shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section taken through a pair of stackedboxes embodying the objects of my invention.

Fig. 4 is a side plan view showing a truck supporting a plurality ofstacked and interlocked boxes and a lift tjruck provided with forksoperatively associated with said oxes.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken on the section line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of a modification of the box shown in Fig. 1.

Figs. 7, 8, and 9 diagrammatically illustrate various and furthercontours which can be given to the side walls of my box to produce anesting and stacking arrangement.

As best shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, some of the objects of my inventionhave been embodied in a square lug box generally designated by thereference numeral 1, and preferably about 2 feet by 2 feet in lateraldimensions and approximately 8 or 9 inchesdeep. Advantageously, a box ofthis kind can be made of aluminum or plastic, and if made of aluminumshould weigh in the neighbor 3 Y hood of five pounds. A box so loadedwith fruit, such as pears, should then weigh in the neighborhood of 75pounds, this being a load capable of being manually handled by anoperator. r

Formed on each side of the box 1 is a plurality of symmetricallydisposed, alternately convex and concave corrugations or flutes 2 and2a, each of the concave flutes 2a terminating substantially short of thebottom 3 ofthe box in an inwardly extending step or shoulder 4. From aninspection of Fig. 1 it should be noted that both pairs of diagonallydisposed corners of the box are symmetrical, whereas each adjacent pairof corners are asymmetrical. More specifically, it will be noted thatthe diagonally opposed pairs of corners 5 and 6, and 7 and 8, of the boxare identical, whereas the adjacent pairs of corners 5 and 7, and 6 and8 are asymmetrical.

, Circumscribing the flutes 2, and forming the upper end of-the box, isan outwardly turned, substantially hori- ,zontal, flat, peripheral lip 9formed with a downwardly turned portion 10, provided with inwardlyextending handhold recess 11 and with a return bend 12, the returnportion 12 serving as a stop or shoulder for supporting one box on topof the corresponding peripheral portion of an overlying box nestingtherein and preventing two nested boxes from becoming wedged together.Formed along the lip 9 of each box outwardly of each of the convexcorrugations or flutes 2, is a downwardly extending arcuate recess 13for receiving the lower concave end of a flute 2a of a box stackedthereon. As is readily apparent from Fig. 3, this structure serves toslightly nest two stacked boxes and thereby lock or key them againstrelative horizontal translatory movement in all directions. 3 Here itshould be noted that the contour of the corner of each pair ofdiagonally opposed corners of the box is identical; that the contours ofadjacent corners are dissimilar or asymmetrical; and. that the locationof the center line of the terminal concave flute on one side of the box(corner 5) substantially corresponds to the location of the terminalconvex flute of the adjacent side of the box (corner 7 or 8). Forexample, the distance a at corner 5 equals the distance a at the corner8. This insures that when one such box is placed over another identicalbox with their dissimilar sides in vertical registration, portions ofthe bottom of the upper box will overlie portions of the top of thelower box, whereby the upper box canbe supported or stacked on the lowerbox. To nest a combination of two boxes so stacked, the upper box issimply rotated through 90 degrees so as to bring the identical sides ofthe boxes into vertical registration with each other. In this respect,the present box diflers from the box disclosed in my copendingapplication wherein two stacked or nested boxes must be rotated through90 degrees relative to each other in order to bring them respectivelyinto their nested or stacked posi tions. The fact that two or more boxescan be changed from their stacked position to their nested position bysimply rotating any pair of boxes through 90 degrees is of considerableadvantage, for an operator can rotate the boxes through this angle bysimply rotating his body through this angle, whereas a rotation of a boxthrough 180 degrees would require the operator to first rotate the boxthrough 90 degrees and then reverse his grip on the box and rotate itthrough an additional 90 degrees.

Since the length of the box is preferably equal to its width and bothdimensions are equal to the length of lug boxes formerly used, the boxeshave the same stability when placed transversely or longitudinally ofthe direction of travel of a carrier or a lift truck. Still anotheradvantage of this box is that by making it two feet long on each side,its capacity over current boxes is increased by one-third, therebyreducing the number of boxes required to carry out a given operation.Furthermore, such boxes can be made into stable two-by-two unit palletloads for transportation by trucks or handling by lift 4 trucks withoutreference to the length or width of the boxes as is presently required.

As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, when boxes of this character are stackedeither on the floor or on the bed of a truck 21 or other carrier, theadjacent boxes form downwardly diverging channels 14, thus making itpossible to lift a stack of boxes two boxes square by the use of a lifttruck 22 having a central wedge-shaped tine 15 and two side tines 16 and17 each formed with a sloping inner wall 18 conforming to the taper ofeach adjacent box. Preferably, the depth of the tines 15, 16, and 17should be substantially less than the depth of the box so that therewill be suflicient clearance to enable the tines to be moved verticallyto their operative position and then elevated slightly, whereupon theboxes will be supported and wedged between each adjacent pair of tines.Here it should be noted that by resorting to this structure the use ofpallets or the equivalent thereof has been eliminated.

The modification of the box illustrated in Fig. dis similar to the boxshown in Fig. 1, except as to the sequence of its convex flutes 32 andconcave flutes 32a. Here it will be noted that by traversing the boxclockwise and starting with the lower left-hand corner of the box, theinitial flute is a convex flute 32. As in the modification illustrated,the flutes as they progress clockwise are alternately convex andconcave, the last flute on the left-hand side of the box being concave.The upper side of the box likewise starts at its left-hand corner with aconvex flute 32 and terminates at its righthand side with a concaveflute 32a. Going downwardly .along the right-hand side of the box, thefirst flute is a concave flute 32a and the last flute is a convex flute.The first flute of the lower side of the box beginning at the right-handend thereof is a concave flute 32a, whereas the left-hand flute of thisside of the box is a convex flute 32. As a result of this sequence ofconvex and concave flutes, it will be seen that two identical boxes canbe nested if both are in vertical registration and in the position shownin Fig. 6. If then the top box he lifted sufliciently to clear the lowerbox and rotated through degrees it will be seen that the left andrighthand sides of the boxes will be in the stacking position, whereasthe two remaining and opposed sides of the box will be in their nestingposition. A further rotation of the top box through another 90 degrees(total of degrees) will bring all of the sides of the top box intostacking relationship with the lower box. In the third position of theboxes, two opposed sides of one box will be in their nesting positionwith respect to the other box, whereas 'the remaining two opposed sidesthereof will be in their stacking relationship with respect to the otherbox. Although in this modification it is only necessary to rotate onebox through 90 degrees with respect'to another identical box in order toshift from the nesting position to the stacking position, depending onthe initial position of the boxes, it may be necessary to rotate one boxthrough an angle of 180 degrees with respect to the other box in orderto bring all of its sides into either nesting or stacking relationshipwith respect to the other box.

Fig. 7 diagrammatically illustrates a square tapered box generallydesignated by the reference numeral 31, and wherein the major length ofeach of its four sides 32, 3.3, 34, and 35 is straight. Two of thediagonally opposed corners 36 and 37 of the box are identically stepped,contoured as at 38 and 39, whereas the remaining two diagonally opposedcorners 41 and 42 are diagonally contoured by diagonal sides or faces 43and 44.,

Here it is to be noted that each side of each pair .of opposed sides ofthe box can be considered as identically contoured, but in reverseorder. A combination of two such boxes can therefore be stacked as wellas nested, and when stacked, the upper box will be supported by each ofthe four corners of the lower box. If desired, non-stacking, reinforcingflutes or corrugations can be formed along the straight portions of eachside of the box. Such non-stacking flutes or contours must, of course,be symmetrically disposed on all four sides of the box to permit twoboxes to nest 'and would be used for reinforcing purposes.

In the modification of my box diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 8,the tapered side walls 51, 52, 53, and 54 are identically contoured andinclude vertically inclined end portion 56. Here it is to be noted thatthe opposed corners of the box are identical, the adjacent corners areasymmetrical, and that in going around the box clockwise and starting atthe top side thereof the position of the flutes 55 alternate between thetrailing and leading end of each side. Here again, two such boxes can beeither nested or stacked.

In Fig. 9 still another contour pattern is illustrated. Here the opposedcorners 61 and 62 are identical and likewise the opposed corners 63 and64 are identical, whereas each adjacent pair of corners such as forexample the corners 61 and 62 are asymmetrical. Viewed in another way,it can be stated that the sides of each pair of adjacent sides of thebox are dissimilarly contoured. As in each of the modificationspreviously described, all portions of the sides of the box are inclined,although the flutes or contours thereof are reversely inclined.

From these various modifications it will be seen that although acombination of two identical and perfectly symmetrical, tapered boxescan always be nested, they cannot be stacked unless some dissimilarityexists in their contours. Such dissimilarity can occur either at thecorners of the box or intermediate said corners.

As previously mentioned, one additional requirement must be observed:the taper of the box, its height and the oflset of the contours of itssides must be so related that when two identical boxes are stacked,portions of the bottom of the upper box must of necessity overlieportions of the top of the lower box, for otherwise the two boxes wouldnest to a certain degree. If the side walls of the box have a fluted orcorrugated contour the flutes may be arcuate in cross-section orpolygonal in crosssection, and the dissimilar contours should preferablyoccur in a repetitive and alternating pattern so that, for example, inthe case of a pair of square boxes, the two boxes can be alternatelymade to nest and stack by turning the upper box through 90-degreeincrements.

When such boxes are loaded and stacked, they form a column, and it is ofcourse the lowermost box that takes the greatest load. If two opposedsides of the box are sufliciently strong to support the load imposedupon it, it is immaterial insofar as the load factor is concerned whichmodification of box is used. However, the first modification ispreferred because insofar as stacking is concerned, and other factorssuch as gauge of metal being equal, it provides a greater columnstrength, and is just as easy and economical to manufacture andmaintain.

If a box of this character becomes dented as a result of use, it can ifmade of aluminum or other ductile metal, be brought back to its originalconfiguration by the use of suitable dies.

1 claim:

1. A symmetrically tapered polygonal nesting and stacking lug boxincluding a plurality of side walls of equal length and depth, each ofsaid walls being provided with a series of alternate, downwardlyextending convex and concave flutes, the first flute of some of saidsides counted in clockwise direction being of convex form whereas thefirst flute of another of said sides counted in the same direction beingof concave form, and said flutes being so arranged that all of theflutes of two of said boxes can be brought into vertical registrationand mated so as to nest said boxes and so that upon the rotation of oneof said boxes the flutes on at least two opposed sides thereof will beout of registration with some of the vertically aligned flutes of theother box thereby to place said boxes in stacking relation with eachother.

2. A square symmetrically tapered nesting and stacking lug box includingtwo pairs of opposed side walls each provided with a series ofalternate, downwardly extending convex and concave flutes, the firstflute of two of said series of flutes counting in clockwise directionbeing of concave form, and the first flute of the two remaining seriesof flutes counting in the same direction being of convex form, saidflutes being so arranged that all of the flutes of two of said boxes canbe brought into vertical registration and mated to nest said boxes andby rotating one of said boxes through the flutes of two opposed sidesthereof will be out of registration with the flutes of the verticallyaligned flutes of the other box thereby to place said boxes in stackingrelation with each other.

3. A square nesting and stacking lug box including two pairs of opposed,symmetrically tapered side walls each provided with a series ofalternate, downwardly extending, convex and concave flutes, the twocorner flutes of two of the diametrically opposed corners of said boxbeing concave and the two corner flutes of the two remainingdiametrically opposed corners of said box being convex.

4. A box such as defined in claim 3, wherein the lower ends of saidconcave flutes as viewed from the interior of the box terminatesubstantially above the bottom of said box and are closed.

5. A square tapered nesting and stacking box including two opposed pairsof contoured side walls defining two pairs of diagonally opposedcorners, the contours of any two walls starting from their common cornerbeing identically contoured, and the contours of each of such wallsbeing asymmetrically arranged relative to its two terminal corners, saidcontours extending substantially the full depth of said box.

6. A box such as defined in claim 5 provided along its upper peripheraledge with an outwardly extending, overturned ledge.

7. A box such as defined in claim 5 wherein said ledge is formed with ahandhold recess.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS236,518 Vivarttas Jan. 11, 1881 1,943,742 Presbrey Jan. 16, 19342,064,518 Brogden Dec. 15, 1936 2,599,727 Schmidt June 10, 19522,813,656 Anderson Nov. 19, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 718,208 Great BritainNov. 10, 1954

